Friday, February 27, 2015

Colonel Vessery - Random Thoughts


Colonel Vessery, Tie Defender, 35 points, Special ability: when attacking, immediately after you roll attack dice, you may acquire a target lock on the defender if it already has a red target lock token.

I am an Empire player in X-wing, but curiously enough there are still some kinds of ships that I have not taken to the table. Not because I lack motivation, mainly because I do not have time to play as much as I wish. Two of the ships I still have to try and by try I really mean that I have never used then before are the Tie Phantom and the Tie Defender even if I have them since they were released.

Two weeks ago I tried the Decimator with Soontir Fel as companion basically because I didn't want to try two new ships at the same time. Someone said that the real trick on playing x-wing is to know the list you are flying, and I must say that I agree totally. A decent list that you know is on your hands much better than an incredible good list which you do not have any experience and cannot exploit to its limits.

That said and after the Decimator experiment I was listening to some podcast doing a review of Wave 4 and talking very good of this fellow, Colonel Vessery. So I decided to take a second look to him.

I have already read the card when I got the Tie defender expansion, but it is one of those cards that I read, I do not really understand and that I put to side for future reference.
There are fantastic reviews out there about every single card in the game, this entry on my blog does not intent to go so far, it is only a couple of ideas and random thoughts that I got when I was wondering about this Colonel guy.
Let's take a look to his special ability on detail:
  1. when attacking, 
  2. immediately after you roll attack dice, 
  3. you may acquire a target lock on the defender 
  4. if it already has a red target lock token.
point 1, when attacking; no surprises here, a special ability which can be use when Vessery attacks some one, nothing strange here
point 3, you may acquire a target lock on the defender; ok, this sounds similar to Fire Control Systems; Vessery attacks some one and get a target lock onto this some one, so far so good
but
point 2, immediately after you roll attack dice; yes, that is before you modify those same attack dice; in silver, Vessery can attack some one, roll dice, target lock on that poor some one and use that target lock to modify those same dice
however
point 4, if it (the target) has a red target lock token; which means that some one else on the side of Vessery needs to "mark" the target for him.

In short, as long as Vessery has some ally spotting targets for him, he will be able to use his incredible special ability.

Two main lines of thought here:
  1. how can Vessery become more formidable?
  2. who is going to spot for him?

Upgrades
Colonel Vessery has an Elite Pilot slot, so in theory he can get some extra power here. He also has, as each defender does, the Cannon and the Missile slots. I have read that the "current" meta goes about Vessery with Heavy Laser Cannon, which really sounds scary to anyone but I was looking to Vessery and was only able to think, missiles, this guy needs to get some Cluster Missiles.
Cluster Missiles is 4 points and according to the FAQ is treated as two separate attacks against the same target.
In my imagination this goes:
  1. Someone targets lock an enemy ship
  2. Vessery targets lock the same enemy ship
  3. Vessery fires the Cluster Missiles by spending his target lock and discarding the Cluster Missiles card
  4. Vessery rolls attack dice, gets a free target lock and uses it
  5. Vessery rolls attack dice again and gets, again, a free target lock 
So, you are rolling twice 3 attack dice with reroll against the same poor guy. True, you can only do this once, but what a nice strike if the dice are with you.
On this trend of thoughts, some people always complain about the dice being bad with them, so I was thinking maybe get Vessery Marksmanship, to ensure some impacts, but this will add 3 extra point to the cost of Vessery, raising it to 42 points in total. Which, by the way,  will be the same cost as Vessery with Heavy Laser Cannon and some schools of thought in the xwing community think that Marksmanship is not really useful.

Now the question is: the possibility of rolling twice 3 attack dice with reroll on them once in a game is worth 4 points?
Not sure about the answer yet.

Other upgrade I was thinking about in this context was Engine Upgrade, actually I always consider Engine Upgrade as upgrade for my builds. I really like the flexibility that the boost action offers. In the case of a Tie defender I think that this upgrade can surprise an unwary opponent as who has seen a boost action after a K-turn?
Usually,this manoeuvre is red but not in the defender, for a defender this manoeuvre is white, which makes possible to take action(s) after it. I think this can be nice to try, feint an entry into the asteroids on the centre with a white K-turn and a boost action and see if my opponent missed the spot I was supposed to be but I am not :)

Spotter
Ok, Vessery needs red target lock tokens on his intended enemy. Who can give them to him?
First answer which came to my mind was, anyone with Targeting Computer, a 2 points Modification available to anyone.
The cheapest option for this approach will be standard Tie fighters, either the black or the obsidian squadron, depending on the local meta concerning Predator.
Second idea was a Lambda shuttle with the title which allows it to target anyone anywhere. This can be very juicy. Adding Weapons Enginer to be able to have two target locks with only one ship (the shuttle) and using only one action sounds even better. This on an Omicron will amount to 27 points.
Third idea, someone who already has target lock action in its action bar, like Tie Advanced or Tie Bombers. The current consensus is that until the release of the new Raider huge ship for the Empire, the Tie Advanced is overcosted, however the Tie Bomber amounts to the cheapest and robustest ships of the Empire's arsenal.
Some web search showed that, again, there is nothing new under this Sun. There were plenty of entries on the FFG forum about Vessery and lists based on him combined either with Scimitar Tie bombers or shuttles or Firesprays. One particular list was basically Vessery and three Scimitars,which sounds very scary on paper at least.

My current list
At the end I settled for this:
- Vessery with Veteran Instincts and Engine Upgrade (40 points)
- Omicron with ST-321 title and Weapons Engineer (27 points)
- Scimitar Tie bomber x2 (32 points)
for a four ships list with a total of 99 points which will allow to try to get the initiative to be able to fire first at PS 8 with Vessery.

More on this coming soon (I hope so at least ;D )

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Rescuing Han Solo

[Lando, with strangled voice] - Han, we can still save Han.
[Leia] - Chewie, let him talk.
[Lando, gasping for air] - Han, we can still save him from Boba Fett. You two get into safety, I will fetch Han.

Lando signals another pilot to follow him and strides away towards the Millenium Falcon....

-----------------------------

Alternative version of the Empire Strikes Back and more or less what happened in our X-Wing game last week.
A new player wanted to play for second time and we decided to go for a low point count (50 to 60) to have less fighters involved.
I am currently trying to master how to fly with a Firespray and reading a bit on the web I found the Fettigator concept and was very curious about its possibilities, so I run Boba Fett (39) with Navigator (3), Engine Upgrade (4), Daredevil (3) and Autoblaster (5) for a total of 54 points.
My opponent knew my list so that he will be able to choose something more easily. In an instinctive way he decided to go for higher Pilot Skill than me and came out either with Han Solo or with Lando with Veretan Instincts.
Han is more offensive and Lando is more coordination, Chewie even with Veteran Instincts is not high enough.
As he also wanted to try a small ship, at the end he decided for Lando without any mods (44 points) and one Prototype A-wing also without mods (17 points) for a total of 61 points.
We rolled for initiative which I got and we distributed the asteroids more or less in a classic fashion: four in the range 2, range 2 corners and the other two somewhere in the middle.
He placed the A-Wing on the center to my right, which was where I placed Mr. Fett and he placed Lando at 45° on the corner on my left.
The YT-1300 moved towards the asteroid field in a very conservative and cautious manner trying and managing to avoid any collision but also outside of any helpful range for the A-wing.
The A-wing moved also carefully in the asteroid field, but was using its boots action very wisely and moving towards my right, towards Boba Fett who was flying on the side of the asteroids with the idea or turning to face the A-wing a close range.
In the confrontation the A-wing lost shields and was eventually destroyed the round after by Fett but achieved its goal of stripping the shields out of the Firespray.
Lando managed by this time to move into range from within the asteroid field and he and Lando started a "dance" all around the board and the asteroids. My opponent very well aware of the Autoblaster and being able to move after me was always beyond range one.
The inevitable followed: Boba Fett was destroyed by a less manoeuvrable but later moving Lando :(
I think the fact that Boba Fett was not moving last or at least after Lando was the key point to his inevitable demise as all the point invested in making the Firespray highly manoeuvrable are wasted if you don't know were your opponent is going to be.
Guessing is nice but knowing is better.
After this experiment I think that Boba Fett needs more Veteran Instincts than Daredevil in this configuration, because not going last is really crippling his main strength.
Nevertheless, it was really funny and cinematic watching Lando catching Boba Fett and saving the day (and Han) ;)

Decimator Test Drive

[Sales man] - Good Morning Admiral. Please, here, the keys of your new vehicle.
[Rear Admiral Chiraneau]-Thanks. Uhm... Soontir, do you feel like coming with me for a test drive.
[Baron Soontir Fel] - Yes, sure, Admiral.
[...]
[Baron Soontir Fel] - Look out, Sir. It seems to me that we have run into some Rebel Sum. Will go around the asteroids to take a look.
[Rear Admiral Chiraneau] - Good idea, I will keep exploring my new vessel.

-----------------------

That summarises more or less my last X-Wing game :)
I wanted to try the Decimator, so I checked some videos and podcasts about it and came with this list:

  • Rear Admiral Chiraneau (46), Expose (4), Rebel Captive (3), Ysanne Isard (4), Experimental Interface (3) and after some consideration also Gunner (5) for a total of 65 points
  • Soontir Fel (27) with Push the Limit (3) and Shield Upgrade (4) for a total of 34 points.
The list is 99 points, to bet for Initiative.
There was another similar list for the Decimator which was also with the Rear Admiral but using Predator (3) and Engine Upgrade (4) instead of Expose and Exp. Interface. Both combination let to the same amount of points, so in that respect they are "equivalent".
The lists I based mine were always Decimator and Phantom, usually Whisper, but having never used one of those I decided to go with the well-known Soontir.

My opponent was flying a 4X list:
  • Biggs, with R2-D2 and Shield Upgrade
  • Rookie with Shield Upgrade
  • Rookie x2
A very defensive Biggs list, with a total of 100 points.

The initial Set Up was the Rebels in the middle of the table bearing to their left, the Decimator on one side at 45° angle and Soontir so posed as to be able to cut through the asteroid belt.
Position after the initial move of the Rebels
The Decimator was moving slowly towards its right, using first a bank 1 to get parallel to the border of the battle field whereas Soontir moved straight 4 with boost to get into the middle of the asteroid and try to approach the Rebels from their back.
The Decimator was for the first and second round too far from the enemy as to be able to exchange fire. But Soontir managed to get behind an asteroid in the middle and fired on Biggs.
I was expecting the Rebels to follow the Rear Admiral but they changed their plans and K-turned to chase Soontir which was about to move around the back left asteroid to chase them. Surprise !
However, being able to boost left and Push the Limits to barrel roll and get a focus allowed him to put some distance with the enemy fighters.
Catch me if you can :)
I moved the Decimator with a right bank 1 right between the two asteroids but them was forced to go bank 2 left to avoid any collision. In the meantime Soontir was running for his life with all the enemy fighters after him.
One lucky shoot removed his shield, but he was able to go to the left back corner of the battle field by following its border and to turn behind the Decimator.
The enemy fighters seeing the speed of Soontir decided to turn again to face this time the Decimator.
A few shoots were exchanged between the asteroids, Biggs and the Decimator lost their shields, however R2-D2 was there to get them back on line.
The Decimator was using Expose with Exp. Interface after target lock and was having problems to cancel stress.
After coming out from in between the asteroids under stress the Decimator was faced with a dilemma: to go right and try to by pass the enemy fighters by either flying them over or by overlapping them or to try to go left risking flying out of the battle field.
At the end I decided to try to by pass the enemy fighters by flying onto them, however they moved just enough for me to land in front of them; two were at range one, Biggs and the other at range 2.
The barrage of fire was such that they destroyed the Decimator basically in one round. It got 11 points of damage.
The previous round it hat already lost the shields and one point of hull. So it was gone in a big ball of fire...
Another one bites the dust
This was my first experience with a Decimator and so far I must said that I liked it but that next time I will probably go with the Predator - Engine Upgrade option as I don't see an easy way for me to fly this thing and be able to remove stress in an efficient way. Actually, the round it was destroyed I was not able to use Ysanne Isard precisely because of the stress and my need to fly either away or onto the enemy ships.
My opponent was flying his fighters very well and I cannot blame the dices as we were more or less even with our luck, only my own mistakes :)
I was very funny, that for sure :)